


Soft Songs/Soft Heartbeats

by rabbitpxl (orphan_account)



Series: We've Got Stadium Love [4]
Category: Splatoon
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/F, Fluff, Internalized Homophobia, Mental Illness, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pre-Relationship, Slow Burn, Tags May Change, compulsory heterosexuality
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-29
Updated: 2017-09-13
Packaged: 2018-12-21 06:42:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11938482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/rabbitpxl
Summary: After Pearl moved to Inkopolis to get away from her family, she found herself lonely and struggling to find her place in the world. She was alone for the most part, even after her desperate attempts to make herself known with her music.When she somehow managed to find herself in Octo Valley, she meets Marina - who has several problems of her own.  The two's personalities clash at first, but when they find themselves in similar trouble, they have to help each other in whatever ways they can.





	1. The Girl from Outside Inkopolis

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write a fic on how Pearl & Marina met, based off some personal headcanons and stuff. I know canon might kick me in the butt one day, so this fic is tagged as AU just in case!  
> Anyways, since a lot of people liked my past fics, I really hope you'll like this one! It's my first multichapter, so I hope I can commit to it, haha.

_ Calamari County was always known for its lively local events. Every year, they’d have a fair, or a circus, or even a music festival. While it wasn’t as busy or inhabited as Inkopolis, it was still the home to many. It was small, sure, but it had a certain charm to it that way. Everyone knew everybody, and if not, then their friends certainly knew somebody. _

_ Word had quickly spread that the most recent winners of previous years music festival were moving away to Inkopolis. The girls, who also happened to be cousins, had become very popular after their performance that night. It was a shame they were moving, but most people knew they were off to do better things. Maybe, if they were lucky, they could use this as a chance to rise to fame. Everyone saw potential in them, after all. _

_ When the Cuttler family had gotten word of this, they immediately wanted to their daughter, Pearl, to upstage them. Pearl was to be the best of the best and make them plenty of more money despite their already rich status. _

_ When the annual music festival came around once again, she had no say in joining. She was to join whether she liked it or not. The young inkling was upset at first, but her parents convinced her that it would be fun and a new opportunity for her to finally show off her “hidden talent”. She had been showing interest in music for a few years now, so maybe this will give her the nudge she needed. _

_ Pearl’s aunt took her there when the night came, holding her hand the whole way until it was time for Pearl to take the stage. _

_ There was a shock wave that night, just as the young inkling began performing.  _

_ Pearl’s parents hadn’t shown up - they were much too busy doing ‘adult’ things to do so. They didn’t find out until they got home the next morning. Her aunt had planned on telling them herself, but they ended up finding out on their own thanks to the local newspaper. _

_ " _ A shock wave struck while one young lady was performing at the recent Youth Folk-Singing contest, doing damage to the venue. Fortunately no one was injured _ ,” an article read. “ _ It’s unknown how the accident happened. The situation is under heavy investigation. _ ” _

_ They were furious. A silent kind of furious. They were disappointed, like it was Pearl’s own fault. They wanted her to win, to give her parents something to brag about. _

_ Pearl didn’t feel anything. She cared, yet simultaneously didn’t. She was silent when her parents learned what happened, but still cried for hours later that night. Some deep, deep part of her wanted to impress her parents and make them proud; another wanted to spite them and do as she pleased. _

_ But it was just bad luck. It wasn’t her fault. Maybe she wasn’t cut out for singing. _

 

* * *

 

“Pearl Cuttler, it has been almost a week since you last paid your rent.”

A small, white-tentacled inkling sunk into her seat in shame, arms folded. Across from her was her landlord; an old, cranky-looking anemone woman who seemed too tired for this. She felt like she was back home, being scolded by her family members, with the way she was being spoken to. Just before the inkling could open her mouth and form a reply, she was abruptly cut off.

“This is the second time in 6 months and I’ve already given you an extension.”

“I know, Ma’am, but -”

“I will give you one more, Miss Cuttler.”

“Ma’am, please, I can pay half, you gotta underst- Wait, what?” Pearl froze mid-sentence, just as she before she could argue. She certainly did not expect that.

The anemone raised two fingers to her temples and inhaled. “Miss Cuttler. I am an old, tired woman, but I am certainly not evil. I have heard what you have been going through,” she continued, giving her tenant a sympathetic look. “It’s a shame to lose such a well-paying job.”

The inkling fixed her posture and smiled sheepishly.

“You have one more week to pay, Miss Cuttler,” the landlord continued. “I am being nice, but if you do not pay by then I will have to take some course of action.”

“Y-yes Ma’am. I understand, completely.” Pearl said, nervously fumbling with the zipper of her hoodie.

“Alright then. You may leave,” Her landlord waved, shooing her tenant away as she scrambled to get up and leave as quickly as possible.

Just as the inkling opened the door, she heard the old woman speak one more time, but didn’t quite catch it in her rush to escape. 

Something about a new company hiring young inklings? Grizzco, or something like that? The squid brushed it off - she can find some way to get money faster than her previous job, anyways.

Pearl grumbled, shoving her hands in her pocket as she exited the building and headed back to her apartment. It was a short walk - just a block away - but she took her time. It was dark, silent for the most part. 

Summer nights in Inkopolis felt very different from the ones in Calamari County. They were still hot and sticky, but something about Inkopolis felt more lonely. Maybe it was just because Pearl herself was a bit lonely. She knew people and had her connections in Inkopolis, but she didn’t have anyone to consider a real  _ friend _ . No one to hang out with on a friday night or to call when she was bored at 3 in the morning. Sometimes Pearl thought that if she were to tell someone about her family, maybe more inklings would want to hang out with her. But something about this was like buying friendship rather than making it herself. It made her stomach ache.

The inkling stopped for a moment, pondering. There were no stars in the sky tonight, as if there never were. Inkopolis had the worst light pollution. Maybe it was the lack of stars that made her feel lonely? That couldn’t be it, stars don’t have feelings. They aren’t people, they can’t possibly make someone feel welcome. She listened intently to the distant sounds of traffic. She heard. She thought.

“I swear, I had enough money for rent this month,” Pearl grumbled to herself. “And the next, and the next…”

The inkling stopped staring at the sky and finally headed back home, now at a faster pace. She would have to find a new job or way to earn a few bucks, and soon. She could participate in more turf wars, but that only does so much. Ink battles were a good way to earn cash quickly, but they certainly weren’t the best for earning it efficiently.

Pearl finally reached the door to her flat on the second floor of the complex. She reached into her boot, pulled out her keys, and unlocked the door.

She lived alone, so her apartment was small enough just for her. It wasn’t exactly messy, but it certainly wasn’t clean, either. She had expensive music equipment scattered around her living room, papers stacked in a chaotic pile, a few pillows on the floor here and there. Her kitchen was almost dead in comparison, like she didn’t use it as often as she should (with the exception of excessive sticky notes all over her fridge, and doodles on a calendar in the same spots).

Pearl sighed and pulled her hoodie over her head, tossing it onto her coffee table and leaving her in a blank tank top and shorts. She threw herself on the couch - careful not to accidentally knock over whatever mess there was - and opened the laptop that was on the tiny table beforehand.

She had some personal work to get to while the night was still young, and wanted to get what she could done. Yet something about coming home and sitting on her lush, comfortable couch was making her feel awfully drowsy. She was determined to plow through her sudden fatigue, though -  _ just a few hours _ , the inkling thought. She had nothing to do the next morning, anyways.


	2. A Trophy Mother for a Trophy Daughter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pearl remembers things, then goes some turf wars.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for helping me out Frostie!! Your the best as usual xoxo  
> And I forgot to thank a few pals for helping me out with names! ilu2 <3

_ “Pearl, dear, you’re home!” A middle aged squid with long, grey tentacles, shouted from another room upon hearing the door open.  _

_ Pearl slammed the door behind her, stomping down the hall towards the mansion’s flight of stairs. She began to tear her boots off when she heard someone turn the corner. _

_ The older inkling gasped upon seeing her niece at the end of the large staircase. Pearl was covered head to toe in mud and bruises, especially her face - her tentacles even had a few nicks in them, with ink seeping out unnaturally. Fortunately, she wasn’t bleeding, but this was definitely the sign of trouble. Her mother was going to kill her when she found out. _

_ Pearl saw her aunt’s shock and twisted around quickly, her eyes full of a mix of anger and panic, unsure of whether she should beg her not to tell her mother or if she should just run to her room and pray this will be forgotten. In the heat of the moment, however, she froze like a deer in the headlights. _

_ “Sweetie, what happened to you?” Her aunt rushed to Pearl’s side and began to examine her, but she was silent and shaking. _

_ “Who did this to you, darling? We’ll see that they get into a whole lot of trou-” _

_ “Nobody! No one did this, n-no one,” Pearl stammered, pulling away. _

_ “You can tell me, I’ll make sure your parents-” _

_ “No!” Her niece yelled in response, falling back onto her butt and shocking her aunt.  _

_ “No, no, don’t tell mother,” she begged. The older inkling quickly tried to think of what to say or do to calm her niece down. _

_ But before she could say a word, there was another door slamming. Both inklings froze this time. If it wasn’t Pearl slamming doors, that only meant one thing: her mother was home and she was not in a good mood. _

_ “Pearl Cuttler,” a voice boomed from the other room, “You better have a _ fucking  _ explanation for this.” _

_ Pearl’s aunt stood up when she heard her sister enter the room, ready to defend her niece. “I’m sure whatever happened wasn’t Pearl’s fault, Opal-” _

_ Opal almost shrieked upon seeing the state her daughter was in. She stood at the door, stumbling on her words before forming a proper response. _

_ “ _ Bullshit! _ She got into a  _ fight _ , Spinel! With one of her classmates!” _

_ Pearl was hiding behind her Aunt Spinel now, her eyes glassy and unfocused. She knew exactly what happened, but wished she didn’t - she wished didn’t exist at all right now. _

_ “Pearl, what the hell happened?” Her mother yelled. Opal’s voice was like venom at this point, but no matter what response Pearl thought of, she knew she would be in trouble. _

_ “I don’t know,” Pearl stated. She was shaking, but she didn’t feel like she was really there right now. She tried to all emotion when this happened. Crying only made her mother more angry. Simply showing signs of crying aggravated her. But she didn’t want to care about what was happening right now. _

_ “C’mon now, I’m sure Pearl didn’t mean it…” Her aunt explained, trying her best to calm her sister down. _

_ “Didn’t mean it? She knew damn well what the consequences are, Spinel.”  _

_ Opal glared and turned back to her daughter, sneering.  _

_ “Do you know how badly this will affect your father and I? This could hurt our jobs and it will be all your fault.” _

_ Something about that struck a chord in Pearl. _

_ How it affected  _ them?  _ It would be all  _ her _ fault? _

_ She clenched her fists tightly and suppressed her sudden anger. She knew what happened. She got into a fight because someone called her only friend - a little sea slug girl - a mean name, and she wasn’t having it. She thought that maybe, just maybe, if her mother found out the truth she’d be proud. She remembered her mother telling her to never stand and watch bullies be bullies. Pearl was going to tell her eventually, hoping that her mother would say sorry and be proud of her in the end when she knew the truth. _

_ But this made her realize that she didn’t actually care about what happened to Pearl or what Pearl did, only how this would affect her or the Cuttler name. _

_ The room was silent and tense for a whole minute. Opal glared at Pearl, who was avoiding all eye contact. Spinel played with her tentacles, unsure what to do. _

_ Opal inhaled, making the child inkling wince. “Go to your room, Pearl. We’ll talk about this later.... And no dinner for you tonight.” _

_ Pearl nodded, creeping away from her aunt and slowly slinking off to her room with her backpack in hand. Her bruises seemed to ache more than they did on the way home.The cuts on her tentacles stung, too, but were no longer bleeding ink. _

_ Pearl closed the door to her room as carefully as she could, not to make a sound in case her mother heard and accused her of ‘having an attitude’. When it was closed, she dropped her backpack on the floor, leaned backwards and let herself sink to the ground. _

_ Pulling her aching body close to her and hugging her knees, she figured now would be a better time to cry than ever. _

* * *

 

A loud ‘THUNK’ startled Pearl, waking her up from her slumber in panic. She felt restless. Her back and neck ached, and a few scars on her tentacles stung. Pearl knew she must’ve had a nightmare, but lost grip on what it was about as she frantically looked for the source of the noise that woke her.

Moving her much-too-long tentacles over her shoulders, she looked down and found the source of her dismay. Her laptop lay on the floor, it’s screen to the ground. This made the inkling’s heart race in the worst way possible - and she hasn’t even been awake for 2 minutes. 

_ Oh cod please,  _ she thought as she very carefully plucked the laptop off the ground, holding her breath.  _ Don’t be broken baby, I can’t afford a new one right now. _

Pearl sighed in relief. It was fine, at least externally. She’d have to check it later to see if there was any internal damage, but that could wait. She carefully set the laptop onto her coffee table, treating it as delicate as one would with an injured baby bird.

Taking a scrunchie off of the table, she properly tied her four largest tentacles back and stretched. Now more awake, she noticed the sun was shining through the blinds. Turning to a clock in the kitchen, she was thankful to find out she didn’t oversleep. She hardly even remembered falling asleep last night, let alone what she was doing. 

It was only 20 to 11, plenty of time for her to start her day. Knowing herself, if she just stayed home right now she’d end up going back to sleep or working on music for far too long. Perhaps today would be a good chance to do some ink battling and get extra cash instead of lounging around.

Changing herself into a more appropriate outfit - a simple black band tee, black leggings, and long converse - she fixed herself a simple cereal breakfast. She contemplated making coffee, but decided against it since it seemed to have the opposite effect on her. The inkling figured she could just pick up a tentacola on her way out instead.

She packed her small gym bag with her dualies, ink tank and whatever gear or necessities she felt she might need and headed out the door. Maybe today will be more productive than hours of exhausting herself in turf wars.

After a short 15 minute walk, the inkling made it to Inkopolis square. The new ink battle tower, Deca Tower, was recently built here to replace Inkopolis Tower. It was still new, and there were no shops nearby besides a street mall a few blocks down. And since this tower was new, Inkopolis tower was still in use, making this one was mostly desolate. Pearl appreciated this, because not only was it close to her apartment, but it was easier to get into matches without having to wait in a long queue.

She had a feeling today would be a good turfing day. Smiling to herself and puffing her chest out to look as confident as possible, she headed towards the tower in stride.

* * *

 

Those were some of the worst turf war matches she ever had.

Pearl treaded out of the tower, her tentacles dripping with ink as though she were melting, and groaned. She scowled at all the people who glanced at her. Today wasn’t her day after all.

The first match wasn’t so bad. Her team won, she got a few splats, all was well. Yet, after that, she started a losing streak; running into spawn campers, squid baggers, and pesky chargers who  _ actually knew how to aim _ . Who gave them the  _ right _ ?

Pearl stomped over to the nearest bench, plunking down. She pulled out all the G she managed to get and hastily began counting. It wasn’t much, but it was something. She may just be able to pay her rent in full in just a few days if she keeps this up…

She put her money away and leaned back. The sun was at its peak, and god, was it hot out. The inkling pulled out her phone to check the time. She had been battling for the past 3 and a half hours.

In the distance, she heard a few inklings conversing about something that sounded oddly familiar.. Sitting up, she turned in the direction of the noise, and noticed a tall, muscular girl passing out flyers to random inklings and explaining the contents to them. She was wearing a muscle shirt and shorts, showing off her well-defined muscles. Pearl felt her face heat up and looked away quickly.

Going back to her phone, she idly checked her social media to pass the time. Her heart stopped when she heard someone come near.

Immediately, she felt someone else’s presence in front of her, and pretended not to notice. But when a shadow casted over her, Pearl looked up to see the inkling from before towering above her. Her tentacles were styled in a mohawk, and judging by her size, she must’ve been a giant squid (compared to Pearl, who was only a tiny northern pygmy). 

“H.. Hellloooo there,” Pearl croaked, attempting to keep her cool.

“Hello,” The taller inkling replied monotonously as she shoved a flyer into Pearl’s face.

“Eh? The hell is this?” The smaller inkling tore the flyer away from her to examine it. It was an ad for a well-paying job, which caught Pearl’s attention. It did, however, seem a bit suspicious - according to the flyer, they’re willing to hire anyone to do the dangerous job of collecting Salmon eggs.

“It uh, looks kinda fishy, ya know?” Pearl chuckled nervously.

The larger inkling just stared. There was an awkward silence for a few seconds before the other inkling spoke up.

“Call the number if you are interested. We are always looking for new bait.”

Pearl gave her a perplexed look, turning back to the flyer. Bait? What? She lifted her head to ask what that meant, only for the other inkling to be walking away already.

She may have just found a quick way to pay her rent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof, I thought this chapter would be more interesting but I suppose not. I'll try to pick up the pace, I promise!


	3. Octo Canyon and Agent Shenanigans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A chapter focusing on a new character, woo! I hope this mood is a bit lighter than the last two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the late update guys! I hope that making this chapter longer than usual makes up for it a little. ♥

Nights in Inkopolis were sometimes peaceful, lovely things. While there were no stars, there were city lights and distant hums of cars and trains. The lobbies for ink battles were almost always closed after midnight, with rare exceptions for Splatfests and private parties, making it exceptionally peaceful.

The yell of a nearby train startled an inkling from her apparent slumber at her desk. Not realizing she had fallen asleep, she groggily looked around. Almost all of her apartment lights were off except for the one on her desk, the only other light being the city's outside.

Her eyes finally adjusted to the dim light and she took a moment to move her long green tentacles out of her way and recall what she had been doing before her slumber. On her desk was a stack of books, all of different genres: fiction and nonfiction. There were several pens, pencils and highlighters, too. To her left was a small, old radio that quietly buzzed white noise, signalling that whatever she was listening to before was long over. In front of her, however, was the most unique. It was a textbook, written in a foreign language. It was covered in sticky notes, presumably translating the contents. 

The inkling sighed and placed a bookmark between the pages before closing the heavy book. On the front, aside from its foreign title, read "CUTTLEFISH" in poor inklish handwriting. She pushed the book to the side, leaned back, and stretched. Turning her head to the clock across the room, she realized just how late it was. 3:32 AM. She should really be sleeping.

As if the world said otherwise, her cell phone suddenly rang. It blared a popular Squid Sister's song around the room, making her jump almost 10 feet in the air. Who on Earth would call at this hour? 

Without even bothering to check the caller ID, the green inkling picked up the phone. 

"Ah, Agent 3! I didn't expect you to be up this early!"

The inkling, otherwise known as Agent 3, groaned in response. 

"Early? Cap'n Cuttlefish, it's almost 4 AM. It's late."

"That doesn't matter now, 3, I have a task for you."

Another groan from the Agent. 

"Right now? Can't it wait until morning?"

"Yes, but I would have forgotten by then! That'd be annoying now, wouldn't it?" 

Agent 3 paused, unsure how to respond. She nodded before realizing he couldn't actually see her do so.

"...Alrighy, what is it?"

"I need you to come by, it's too much to explain over the phone. These calls are expensive."

She groaned one more time, like a teenager throwing a fit. Which, she technically was. Captain Cuttlefish just chuckled in response.

"Alright, alright. I'll be there in half an hour. I hope it's important."

"Don't you worry your little green tentacles, it won't take long."

Before even saying goodbye, Agent 3 hung up. She rubbed her drowsy eyes and sat still for a moment.

What could that old man possibly want now? She pondered. This wasn't the first time he's sent her out this late, and it was unlikely to be the last, but she despised it when it happened. It became more frequent after Agents 1 and 2 became busier with their more… professional lives. At least he always did it when he knew she had nothing of importance for the next few days.

She got up and grabbed her jacket from the couch, not bothering to put on her agent attire or change out of her lounging clothes. Cuttlefish may be a bit odd, but he would never send her out on an actual mission this late at night.

Agent 3 slipped out of her apartment with relative ease - no one was awake at this hour, at least no inkling was. She carefully made her way to an alley just a block away from her apartment and used her phone's flashlight to navigate the darkness.

After a few minutes of quiet shuffling, she managed to find a manhole cover behind a garbage can. She would have searched for the one in the plaza but worried she would accidentally wake someone doing so. While this took a bit longer, it would cause less attention.

The inkling lifted the cover and jumped in through her squid form, promptly placing it back on behind her, confident no one saw.

* * *

When she arrived, the valley was quiet, dark, and humid. Agent 3 didn't know what to expect, it was almost always this way, but somehow she forgot tonight and expected the same chill air from the city. Shaking some excess ink off of her, she loosened her jacket to keep herself cool and followed the distant light of the Squidbeak Splatoon's shack.

Captain Cuttlefish didn't seem to notice Agent 3's presence upon arrival, completely fixated on a drawing and several pictures taped to his shack in front of him. Agent 3 coughed not once, but 3 times before he jumped and zipped around, nearly knocking her over with his cane.

"H-Hey! It's me, it's me," she raised her hands defensively, "I'm here like you asked."

"Oh, yes, Agent 3! Hello!" Cuttlefish relaxed, giving her a friendly wave. "Just in time, I was taking a good look at what I have for you tonight."

Agent 3 attempted to peek over the Captain's head to see just exactly what he was looking at, but he blocked her way each time. "Which is…?"

"I need you to make a Map," he chuckled.

"...E-Excuse me?"

"A map, Agent 3. You know. The paper with the squiggly lines that show landmarks and give people dire-"

She cut him off abruptly. "No, no. I know what a map is. What could I be making a map of, though? We already know where everything in the valley is, and inkopolis."

"And that's where you're wrong, squiddo!" 

Agent 3 stared, dumbstruck, waiting for a follow-up. But none came.

"And?"

"Well, I need you to make a map."

"Of..?"

"Oh! Goodness me, I forgot. Agent 1 found a hidden kettle leading to an entirely new portion of Octarian Civilization." 

"Wait," The mention of Agent 1 removed any signs of her previous drowsiness, giving her full attention to Captain Cuttlefish. "Callie was here? Recently?"

"Hush, Agent 3! Professionalism. You don't see me calling you by your name, do you?"

Agent 3 huffed.  _ I guess. _

"Anyways, she has been coming in and out when she isn't busy, yes. I don't know how she found this new area, but she calls it Octo Canyon."

"Octo Canyon? So it's completely separated from the Valley?"

"Indeed. And I want you to make a map of it. The Octarians have been quiet recently and have posed no threat, but we want to be safe."

"I see… And how do I find the kettle to it?"

The old inkling lifted his cane and pointed south. "Somewhere there. It shouldn't be hard to find, Agent 1 said she left tracks for you. You'll know which one it is when you see it, squiddo."

Agent 3 smiled at the idea.  _ That's very Callie to do. _

Cuttlefish interrupted her thoughts. "And before you go, how is the translation going?"

"Oh, uh. It's going fine, but it's going to take a while…"

"As long as you're making progress, Agent 3. There's no rush."

Unsure how to respond, she nodded. "I suppose."

"Now," Cuttlefish poked her stomach with her cane a few times. "Get going, it's late. Come back when you have time and I'll give you what you need."

"Yes, sir."

Agent 3 hugged her jacket closer to herself (when did it get so cold?) and trudged back the way she came.

_ Since when was Octo Canyon a thing? _ She thought. She could have sworn that the valley was all that was left for the Octarians to live in, but she must've been wrong. Agent 3 wondered if this would be a good or bad thing. I suppose I have to find out myself, then.

She finally found the manhole she came out of and went back to her squid form, making her way back home in the dead of night.

* * *

The next day was not an easy one.

The sunlight poured out of Agent 3's apartment window, basking the room in an orange evening glow. When she sat up, everything in her body felt like it was breaking. Her back and neck ached, her eyes stung, and her mouth felt bitter and dry. She took a moment to sit in her bed, staring out the window at the city below. 

Stretching, she lifted herself up and headed for her kitchen to make herself some coffee. It was about 4 pm, much later than she intended to sleep in for, but it didn't seem to matter much to her. It was summer, and the only thing she had to worry about today was her mission in Octo Canyon.

Oh, right.

Octo Canyon.

One portion of her was excited about this responsibility. As far as she knew, the maps of Octo Valley were made by Agents 1 and 2 - so something about this felt special. Ever since Callie and Marie had become more busy with their newer jobs, Captain Cuttlefish ended up leaving most jobs to her. It wasn't anything she couldn't handle, of course - she did defeat their leader by herself and takes zapfish back on an almost daily basis. But this felt like a much bigger job, filling her with a sense of adventure. This was an entirely new place no one outside of the Octarians knew about!

However, another part of her did dread it a little. Staying up so late was a habit she had, especially nights before unplanned missions. It was bad luck, but it always put her in a grumpy mood.

Yet what did get her thinking was Callie. She had no idea she had been visiting the valley recently, let alone exploring enough to find an entirely new part of it. Something about it rubbed her the wrong way, but she figured it wasn't a big deal. The fellow agent likely stumbled on it during a patrol. All that mattered now was she got the map, and Captain Cuttlefish would handle the rest.

After finally eating something (it may be 4 pm, but breakfast was still important), she rummaged through her closet for her agent attire. It had been awhile since she was on a real mission, about 3 or 4 weeks exactly, judging by just how deep the gear was in her closet. She put it on, letting her headset hang around her neck and making sure her phone was in her pocket and headed out the door without much of a care.

Aside from a few glances, no one paid any mind to the inkling jumping into a manhole in the plaza's broad daylight. It wasn't the weirdest thing to happen, after all, and they didn't seem to care anyway. It was common in inkling society to mind your own business. Unless, of course, you weren't being fresh. But Agent 3 considered herself to be pretty cool, so it wasn't a problem.

The valley was quiet, almost eerily so, when she made it to the Valley. No birds were chirping, there was almost no wind. It made the Agent slightly uncomfortable, spiking her anxiety like a child in the dark

And then she heard a loud, obnoxious snore (this, for some reason, comforted her).

Realizing she had been spacing out on the entrance grate, she turned her attention to the sound. Captain Cuttlefish was standing upright, his eyes closed, completely asleep. To his left was DJ Octavio, trapped in his not-so-cosy globe, silently annoyed. Agent 3 carefully nudged the old man awake, trying not to startle him so she didn't get hit in the head with his cane.

"Huh? Who - Agent 3! What a pleasant surprise!" Cuttlefish smiled. "What brings you here today?"

Agent 3 fiddled with her hands in her pockets. "Uh, you wanted me to? The map, remember?"

Cuttlefish turned around to look at his shack, puzzled. "Map? Hm.. Map, map, map…"

"You wanted her to map out Octo Canyon." A tired, deeper voice interrupted.

The two turned to the 3rd voice, completely forgetting that Octavio was there and listening. 

Captain Cuttlefish cleared his throat. "Er… Yes, right, a map. Here, Agent 3," he handed her a large parchment and a pen. "Take this, and do not worry about it being tidy. We can tweak it later."

Agent 3 nodded and picked a weapon from the shack, her usual heroshot. "Anything else?"

"Oh! Avoid confrontation if you can, squiddo. It's unknown territory, and we're limited on special weapons. We don't even know if there's respawn pads."

The younger inkling nodded. This may be more dangerous than she thought, and something irked her to ask if someone else could do it.

_ No, no. He wouldn't assign this to me if he thought I couldn't do it. He trusts me. _

"And Agent 3,"

She perked up, her ears twitching.

"Be careful, alright? We'd hate to have you get hurt or lose you."

The agent felt a ping of sentimental kinship. She had gotten so close to Cuttlefish and the other two agents since picking up the job, they were practically a second family to her. Somehow, hearing those words come from the captain of all people made her heart ache.

" -- And have fun!" Cuttlefish chuckled, brightening the mood. "Get going, now, we don't have all day. Well, we do, but that's beside the point! I believe the kettle is," he pointed his cane south, "that way."

Agent 3 nodded and gave a thumbs up followed by a small woomy, heading in the direction he pointed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you guys want updates on how my fic is going, or even a few previews here and there, my twitter is caduceusbiaster and my tumblr is rabbitpxl! I won't spill a ton of details on there, but I do talk about it a bit, and even post a few doodles!  
> I hope you enjoyed this chapter though! I did intend for it to be longer, but I felt this was a good place to stop it at. Marina will be showing up soon, too, don't worry! Have a nice day guys ♥  
> (also, yes I did use 'woomy' in that last sentence. I had no idea how to describe it and it sounded better than 'booyah', haha)

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry this first chapter is a bit lame! I promise it'll pick up sooner or later.  
> I have no clue what I'm doing, though, honestly.  
> Feedback is greatly appreciated and helps me a lot!


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